Blog of a course that allows students to learn how to use books, newspapers, magazines, journals, archives, databases, and the Internet to find and evaluate information on legendary creatures such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and other cryptids. It also encourages the developement of critical thinking skills to deal with extraordinary claims and ideas for thinking about them.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

slim pickings

After receiving Hidden Animals, from Summit I was rather disappointed with the information pertaining to the Chupacabra. It had 2 pages on the subject and was little more than a recollection of every "Chupacabra" encounter since the 1970's. This source also proved of little use because the dates of the first Chupacabra sightings are contradictory to those I have found in a few other sources. Finishing the summary with a list of possible theories as the what the creature is this book offered little new information and no personal investigation as to the origins of the creature.

I had a lot more luck with the journal Skeptical Inquirer. I found 3 interesting articles regarding Chupacabra which unlike Hidden Animals had in text citations and sources I found very helpful. The only issue with this journal I had was a lack of variety in authors. I'm having a hard time finding anyone other than Benjamin Radford who has done extensive investigation of the Chupacabra, and this is keeping me from seeing other theories on the monster.